Inflammation markers associated with symptoms and neighborhood deprivation in black adults with heart failure.
Brittany Butts, Christopher Herring, Andrea Madariaga and 3 others
PMID 40639059WHAT IT FOUND
In 41 Black adults with heart failure, higher neighborhood deprivation was linked to more stress and poor sleep, and several blood markers of inflammation and oxidative stress were linked to worse breathing, fatigue, mood, and symptom burden.
These were associations, not proof of cause.
Key findings
01Higher neighborhood deprivation was associated with greater perceived stress and sleep disturbance.
02Xanthine oxidase activity and IL-6 were higher in participants with NYHA Class IV than Class I, and xanthine oxidase activity was associated with more severe dyspnea.
03Overall heart failure somatic symptom scores were associated with T-cell-related cytokines and chemokines.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 41 participants were studied, and the study was a pilot not powered to detect modest effect sizes. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether inflammation, neighborhood deprivation, or symptoms came first. Data were collected remotely with dried blood spots because of COVID-19, so immune cells and genetic material were not collected. The study could not account for pandemic effects on inflammation, and participants with active infections or other inflammatory conditions were not explicitly excluded. NYHA class was self-reported, and clinical variables from electronic records may have been incomplete or outdated. The sample came from one heart failure clinic, although remote recruitment included participants from multiple states. The original Charlson Comorbidity Index was used, which may underestimate risk in contemporary multimorbidity patterns.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include a conflicts of interest statement. The publication types list NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that these biomarkers or neighborhood deprivation caused heart failure symptoms, or that measuring them or screening social needs will improve care. This was a small cross-sectional pilot with 41 participants, so it can only show associations at one time point and was not powered to detect modest effects.